Accession (episode)
A 300-year-old Bajoran ship comes through the wormhole, and its passenger claims that he is the Emissary of the Prophets. Summary As Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir enter the O'Briens' quarters, having just won the Battle of Britain in the holosuite, they lament that O'Brien must return the quarters to normal in preparation for Keiko's return. O'Brien greets Keiko and Molly warmly at the airlock and receives a surprise: During Keiko's last visit to Deep Space 9, they got lucky in their attempt to conceive a child, which means he will not be getting lucky tonight. While O'Brien welcomes his family back to the station, Major Kira welcomes Vedek Porta to Ops. The Vedek has brought a Bajoran couple, who wish for Captain Sisko, as the Emissary of the Prophets, to bless their upcoming marriage. After he agrees and they leave, he remarks to Dax how much he wishes he wasn't the Emissary. Then something comes through the Bajoran wormhole – a Bajoran lightship, which appears to be 300 years old. The passenger, a lone man, is beamed to the infirmary. When Sisko and Kira get there, the man introduces himself; he is the Emissary. The mysterious man is Akorem Laan, a famous Bajoran poet from the 22nd century whose unfinished poem, The Call of the Prophets, has become legendary. He explains that, while traveling in his lightship, he was injured and thought he would die. Then he discovered the wormhole by mistake and was healed by the Prophets, who have delivered him to DS9. He knows nothing of the Cardassian occupation or other hardships his people have been through, but he believes the Prophets have chosen him as their Emissary. As Sisko tries to convince himself that he is glad to give up his role as Emissary, Akorem learns that during the occupation, the Bajoran people gave up their D'jarras, a stratified caste system based on family names. He announces to the Bajorans on DS9 that the Prophets have sent him to bring back the D'jarras and help the Bajoran people find their way again. Sisko informs Akorem that if Bajor adopts a caste-based discrimination system, then they will be ineligible for entry into the Federation. Akorem sees it as an acceptable sacrifice, as does – not surprisingly – Kai Winn. Even Kira will go along with the plan, as it is not her place to question the Emissary. In the Replimat, Sisko is having a drink agonizing over recent events when Kira approaches. She is unable to find a seat in the Replimat and is about to leave when a Bajoran woman gives her seat to Kira, simply because she has a higher D'jarra – something which Sisko informs Kira has been happening all over the station. The two are troubled by the immediate change on the station. Unable to sleep, Sisko wanders about the Promenade that night, where he has visions of Kai Opaka. She asks who he is and claims he does not know himself. When Sisko asks Bashir about the vision, he describes it as an orb shadow, which the Bajorans believe occur when a person is not following the will of the Prophets as shown in the orbs. Religious explanations aside, it was caused by an over-abundance of neuropeptides, and Sisko readily accepts treatment to make the visions stop. Kira attempts to follow her D'jarra, which dictates that she is to be an artist. Unfortunately, despite her best attempts, she ends up with a "flock of flightless birds" in her quarters. Vedek Porta is nonetheless stern in his belief that D'jarras are correct and that the Prophets have chosen for Kira to be an artist. Meanwhile, O'Brien and Bashir meet by chance in Quark's and realize they no longer have time for one another now that Keiko and Molly are back on the station. O'Brien attempts to play darts with Molly in their quarters, and Bashir tries to teach Morn how to play in the bar, but it is not the same for either of them. Meanwhile things are going from bad to worse for Sisko. His failure in his mission to ensure Bajor's entry into the Federation, a goal Sisko has been working toward for several years now, does not please Starfleet Command. Although there is no direct statement of it, he can tell they are unhappy, which he finds ironic considering they never wanted him to be the Emissary in the first place. As he and Kira go over the duty roster, he cannot shake the feeling that he has failed in his duties. And it gets worse: Kira has to resign in order to follow her D'jarra. As soon as Sisko can find someone to take her post, she'll leave. There is an extremely sad moment between them as reality sets in. While O'Brien and Bashir try to deal with their withdrawal, Sisko gets a call from Odo to come to the Promenade immediately, where a vedek has just been killed. The man, Vedek Imutta, fell from the second level, and as Odo prepares to start an investigation, Vedek Porta calmly announces that he pushed the man simply because he had an "unclean" D'jarra and was unwilling to resign as Vedek to follow his D'jarra. Sisko decides that enough is enough and he must take back his role as emissary from Akorem. However, as Akorem is unwilling to give up the post and both men know there will be chaos if they force the Bajoran people to choose between them, they enter the wormhole to ask the Prophets to choose. Inside the wormhole, Akorem remains convinced that he is the emissary, but as usual, the Prophets appear largely unconcerned. They claim Sisko and Akorem's linear nature limits their comprehension. They do say that the D'jarras are in the past, which Sisko has taught them means it is no more and it can never be again. The Prophets explain that they sent Akorem into the future "for the Sisko." After weighing the options, Akorem has them send him back to his own time. They tell Sisko he is "of Bajor," as the Prophets are "of Bajor," before returning him as well. Back on the station, Keiko has devised a plan to help her husband. She sets him up and calls Bashir, informing him of Miles' recent depression, and asks the doctor to help him with it. The two of them get their dart game after all. Meanwhile Sisko is reading The Call of the Prophets, which Kira is surprised to learn is now finished. As the two consider why they can still remember the altered timeline, a Bajoran man and his daughter approach the officers to ask Sisko if he can bless the girl at her upcoming birthday celebration. Sisko happily agrees to the request, having now fully accepted his role as the Emissary. Memorable Quotes "I thought you said you'd started straightening this place up!" "You should've seen it before." "Look, Keiko's shuttle'll be here before we know it. We should've left the holosuite hours ago. "What? And let Jerries cross the Channel? Never!" : - Bashir and O'Brien, upon entering O'Brien's messy quarters "No more ceremonies to attend, no more blessings to give. No more prophecies to fulfill. I'm just a Starfleet officer again; all I have to worry about are the Klingons, the Dominion and the Maquis. I feel like I'm on vacation." : - Sisko "Quark! Did you hear? Chief O'Brien is having a baby." "I thought your females carried your young." "My wife. My ''wife is having a baby." : - '''Bashir', Quark and O'Brien "It's just hard getting used to being a religious icon." : - Sisko "Congratulations! I remember when my nephew Nog was a baby. Cutest thing you ever saw. Heh. You know babies. Every little thing they pick up goes straight into their ears. Ohhh, I used to love reading to him. You know, 'See Brak acquire. Acquire, Brak, acquire!" : Quark "Did you hear? Keiko's gonna have another baby." "Now?!" : - Quark and Worf, remembering the last time Keiko had a baby "Well, I'll be sure and call you when she's ready to deliver; you can lend a hand." "Seven months? Unfortunately, I will be away from the station at that time. Far away. Visiting my parents. On Earth. Excuse me." : - Bashir teasing Worf, in reference to the events of "Forgive me, Major, I don't mean to be difficult, but your faith seems to have led you to something of a contradiction." "I don't see it as a contradiction." "I don't understand." "That's the thing about faith. If you don't have it, you can't understand it. And if you do, no explanation is necessary." : - Odo and Kira "If you don't hit it off with Major Jatarn, I can think of a few other people, shouldn't be that hard to find someone to replace me." "I don't doubt that I can find someone to fill your post. But to replace you..." : - Kira and Sisko "You ''killed him because of his D'jarra?" "''I had to. If a Vedek can't do what the Emissary has asked of us, how can we expect anyone else to?" : - Sisko and Vedek Porta "If the D'jarras belong in the past, why did you send me into the future?" "For the Sisko." : - Akorem and the Prophets Background Information * The working title of this episode was "The Other Emissary". * The producers had to fight to get this episode made because the studio had told them not to do any shows about Bajoran religion. Episodes such as from the first season and from the second had proved to be somewhat unpopular with viewers, and Paramount felt that shows dealing with religion in general, and Bajoran religion in particular, were not ratings winners. According to Hans Beimler, "Shows about religion, alien religion and the Prophets, are extraordinarily difficult. Not because they're hard to produce, but because they're not proven ratings winners. As a result, the studio tends to be happier when ''DS9 is doing action stories''." Similarly, René Echevarria explains, "The studio doesn't like Bajor stories. And Bajor's religion is one aspect of Bajor to which they ''really don't respond''." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) *David Warner was approached for the role of Akorem. Ira Steven Behr commented "Personally, I wanted David Warner as Akorem. He wanted to do it, but his wife talked him out of it because he was on vacation and she didn't want him to work. To his day I still wish David Warner was in it. I think it's a really interesting script and idea, and it leaves us with a nice, interesting mystery. It's a good show, and Avery was great, but I wanted him to have a better opponent". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages) * This episode is considered to be Part II of the 'Emissary Trilogy', with Part I being and Part III being , and as with , Sisko is initially very clear in this episode about how uncomfortable he is in his role as Emissary of the Prophets. However, this episode represents an important turning point in his attitude to his position. It is the second time the phrase "''The Sisko" has been used (it was first used in the episode ) and it is the first time we hear the phrase "You are of Bajor". Both of these phrases would come to have great importance in the future. As well as that, this episode marks the point at which Sisko finally begins to accept his role as Emissary (in , he accepted that there may be more to the Prophecies than he has allowed for, but he didn't change his opinion about his own status in Bajoran religion). Throughout the fifth, sixth and seventh seasons he would become more and more accepting of his position, something which can be seen most clearly in the fifth season episode (where he not only accepts his role, but embraces it and allows it to guide him), and in his interactions with the prophets in episodes like , , , and, most importantly of all, the series finale . * Bashir and O'Brien tease Worf about when he delivered Molly in 2368 in . * Actor Colm Meaney was extremely unhappy with the decision to have O'Brien's quarters in disarray due to Keiko's absence. Meaney states that, "It was expedient to have some sort of what's considered humor in the script, but I object to saying this man is incapable of keeping his apartment tidy when his wife's away. That's a cliché." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * The ship flown by Akorem Laan is the same model used in the episode . (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * In the scene in Quark's where Bashir and O'Brien talk about playing darts without each other, a laboratory squeeze bottle can be seen under the bar, redressed as some kind of alien drinking glass. * The closing credits of this episode feature a number of changes from previous episodes; Ron Wilkinson is replaced by Fritz Zimmerman as set designer and Herman Zimmerman is changed from production designer to visual consultant, and his position in the credits is switched with art director Randy McIlvain. The reason for this was due to a number of ''Deep Space Nine'' crew helping out on the production of . (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) * Bashir and O'Brien order several pints of ale during this episode and never finish any of them. In one case, O'Brien leaves after having no more than a single mouthful. * Quark's statement about everything babies handle "goes straight into their ears" is one of the few times that a Ferengi says ears instead of lobes. *Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode. Video and DVD releases *UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 4.9, . *As part of the DS9 Season 4 DVD collection. Links and references Starring * Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko Also starring * Rene Auberjonois as Odo * Michael Dorn as Lt. Commander Worf * Terry Farrell as Lt. Commander Dax * Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko * Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien * Armin Shimerman as Quark * Alexander Siddig as Doctor Bashir * Nana Visitor as Major Kira Guest stars * Rosalind Chao as Keiko O'Brien * Robert Symonds as Porta * Camille Saviola as Opaka * Hana Hatae as Molly O'Brien Special guest star * Richard Libertini as Akorem Laan Co-stars * David Carpenter as Onara * Grace Zandarski as Latara * Laura Jane Salvato as Gia Uncredited co-stars * Tammy Rodriguez as the yellow-skinned dabo girl * Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn References Akorem's lightship; apprentice; artist; bachelor; Bajor; Bajoran lightship; Battle of Britain; biology; bird; Brak; Call of the Prophets, The; canvas; coloring; ; darts; Dahkur Province; Denorios belt; depression; diaper; D'jarra; election; Emissary of the Prophets; England; English Channel; ''Enterprise''-D, USS; farmer; Federation Charter; Gaudaal's Lament; icon painting; ih'valla; ih'tanu; Imutta; ion storm; Jatarn; Jerry; keep; King of Leinster; Kitara's Song; Lupi; magnet; Maquis; merchant; monk; ''Nash'', USS; neuropeptide; O'Brien, Kirayoshi; Occupation of Bajor; Opaka; Orb; Orb shadow; pagh; politician; pony; priest; Rozhenko, Helena; Rozhenko, Sergey; ''Rubicon'', USS; Shakaar Edon; shift rotation; Sisko, Jake; soldier; spitfire; te'nari; time travel; Winn Adami; Yridian yak External links * * |next= }} Category:DS9 episodes de:Die Übernahme es:Accession fr:Accession nl:Accession